Deliverance
by foxgloves
Summary: The death of Kurama's human mother sees the kitsune embarking back to the Makai… but where is the once great thief to go? Simply wandering is an option. But so is the youkai orphanage headed by a great miko… if only she'll adopt him.


**A few notes: **This was intended to just be a one-shot, but with some simple deconstruction, I thought it quite apt to be turned into a series of vignettes, and upon its fruition, a **small** tale. Please join me in this **small **venture. And most of all… enjoy this **small **ode to my favorite pairing.

**A reminder: **For those who may have not picked up on the hint: **If fat chapters are your hope—look elsewhere**.

* * *

** Departure**

At Ayame's beckoning, Kurama swept into the office with a subtle nod to the sometimes solemn looking ferry-girl, who returned the gesture before quietly making herself scarce, and leaving the kitsune to his audience with the childish demi-god. Childish would not seem to be his façade today, however, as Koenma had assumed his more grown-up appearance for the meeting. His brown eyes regarded the fox heavily, and he gestured with one hand in a sweeping motion to one of the lush chairs situated in front of his hulking desk. "Please, sit."

Normally stacked high and precarious with paperwork, the wood of the desk gleamed under golden light, and before him there was one single sheet of paper and a pen. Seating himself, Kurama casually crossed one leg over the other and folded his hands in his lap.

Koenma cleared his throat, trying to mimic the kitsunes placid countenance. "Before you is your registration. Once signed, re-entry into Ningenkai won't be as easy as you'll once again become a citizen of the Makai. You understand this?" he declared gravely.

Kurama's answering nod was sharp. "It is understood."

"Are you _sure_ that you want to do this?" Koenma sagged deeply into his chair, dropping the so-called diplomatic act, his face beseeching. "I understand that I am bias in this scenario, but there are people here, _friends _here, that—"

"I am certain," asserted the fox, and before Koenma could argue the matter further, the deal was set in a flourish of ink. The pen was placed down, the whirring noise of it rolling across the surface of the desk somehow poignant as it came to a stop, and he stood, ghosting a hand down his front to smooth invisible wrinkles in his shirt.

At his back, Koenma said, "Just so you know… I'm sorry about Shiori-san. I wanted… I wanted to pull strings. I wanted to bring her back for you, but it was her time."

_I know. _Kurama's jaw tightened and emotion that the lordling couldn't see misted his emerald eyes. "I bear no grudge against you, Koenma-sama." He glanced over his shoulder, his features once again re-arranged. "I want her to be happy. In this life or the next."

"She suffers no longer," Koenma promised.

The doors to the office slid open, seemingly knowing that the conversation had come to fruition and that Kurama's goals had been met. Without another word, he passed through them at a steady gait, bypassed quickly by Jorge who always seemed to have a fire lit underneath him, snippets of a conversation in his ears as he walked away.

"_What is it, Jorge?"_

"_I have the report, Koenma-sir!"_

"_Uh… which report was this again?"_

"_From Kagome-sama!"_

"_Oh! Well what are you waiting for! Give me that!"_

At the end of the corridor, Ayame greeted him. "Are you ready, Kurama-san?"

He still had half an ear trained on them, their exasperated banter carrying down the hall still, and he wondered briefly who Kagome was, and how she had earned such regard from the demi-god, but it was really no matter. Turning to the young woman, he nodded. The portal was summoned, and with a deep breath, he stepped inside.

* * *

The one friend he would not be leaving behind was the one who met him as he passed through the threshold of the portal, his crimson hair falling around his shoulders as he neatly landed. "Hiei!" he murmured in surprise.

"Hn," was the stoic youkai's greeting.

"What are you doing here?" the kitsune inquired evenly, shouldering the lone knap-sack that housed a few sentimental tokens garnered from his human life.

"I was made of aware of your decision," Hiei drawled, leaning against the gnarled bark of an old oak tree. "What is your reason for returning to this place?"

Kurama wanted to sigh, but quelled the urge. For one as taciturn as his hybrid friend, he chose to be chatty at the worst of times. The pain of his loss was something that he preferred to deal with alone, but it would seem that he would have to endure the pity one more time. "My human mother is gone," he revealed simply. "What other reason do I have to reside among humans?"

The confession wasn't lost on the man in black, and he dipped his head towards the redhead. "Hn…"

It was small, and overtaken quickly by his grief for the loss of the one woman he earnestly cared about, but his heart felt briefly lighter at the awkward way Hiei offered his condolences. He might not ever understand his attachment to Shiori, but they were friends. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan, _everyone_… they had all offered their sympathies in their own way, but this admission was the most comforting in its simplicity.

"You suppose that you can integrate yourself into this realm once again?" Hiei queried curiously. "You have not been untouched by those ningens. You aren't the King of Thieves anymore, fox. You have changed."

Kurama's eyes betrayed none of his melancholy. "I have been known to improvise."

Hiei lifted his face to the green-gold light that permeated the canopy overhead. The sky was a dusky pink with twilight setting in. "You're in your element now," he remarked, referencing the plant-life that grew around them in abundance, "but should you require accommodations, there is an inn some miles west of here. You could reach it by nightfall, but keep your eyes open, it is easy to miss. The… proprietor is known to be hospitable."

In the blink of an eye, the hybrid was gone for even he had somewhere to go home to… and despite himself, loneliness pressed in unkindly.


End file.
